Isaiah 50:5

5 1The Lord GOD has opened my ear, 2and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.

Isaiah 50:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 50:5

The Lord God hath opened mine ear
To hear most freely, and receive most fully, what is said by him, and to observe and do it: the allusion seems to be to the servant that had his ears bored, being willing to serve his master for ever, ( Exodus 21:5 Exodus 21:6 ) which phrase of boring or opening the ear is used of Christ, ( Psalms 40:6 ) . It is expressive of his voluntary obedience, as Mediator, to his divine Father, engaging in, and performing with the greatest readiness and cheerfulness, the great work of man's redemption and salvation. And I was not rebellious;
not to his earthly parents, to whom he was subject; nor to civil magistrates, to whom he paid tribute; nor to God, he always did the things that pleased him: he was obedient to the precepts of the moral law, and to the penalty of it, death itself, and readily submitted to the will of God in suffering for his people; which obedience of his was entirely free and voluntary, full, complete, and perfect, done in the room and stead of his people; is the measure of their righteousness, and by which they become righteous; is well pleasing to God, and infinitely preferable to the obedience of men and angels: neither turned away back;
he did not decline the work proposed to him, but readily engaged in it; he never stopped in it, or desisted from it, until he had finished it; he did not hesitate about it, as Moses and Jeremy; or flee from it, as Jonah.

Isaiah 50:5 In-Context

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering."
4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.
6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
7 But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 40:6
  • 2. [John 14:31; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 10:7]
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.